Helping you be yourself in front of any camera

Tag Archives: photographs

If you are one of those people who feel mighty uncomfortable in front of a lens and you’ve not had the opportunity to work with a professional, I wanted to share a few ‘rules of thumb’ and tips to help, that you can take away and actively put into practice.

First of all, I firmly believe that the responsibility lies with the photographer to capture a good shot of someone – not that of the people being photographed. Everyone without exception can take a good photograph, no arguments – and if you are working with a professional, they should have the knowledge to guide you all the way through it.

There are exceptions to the rules and as a professional photographer, I work with the individual and capture what is right for them, as we are all different.

However in a ‘non’ professional situation, you have more control that you may imagine, because it’s unlikely there will be any guidance of where and how to be, whether you are seated, standing, on your own, or in a group. It’s also very doubtful you will be given an indication when the image is about to be taken.

1 – When standing full on, or square to the camera, this is your widest angle and gives little opportunity to show your personality. If you stand sideways onto the camera, it’s going to look quite awkward turning your head so far to look at the camera and also shows all your outlines. 45 degrees towards the camera is your best angle and streamlines everything.

2 – Stand comfortably, either equal weight on each leg, or, place your weight on your back leg and allow your other leg to casually point forward. Hands can either be gently clasped in front of you, or behind.

3 – Angles to the camera are good – we’ve already mentioned in Tip1, but SMALL tilts of the head also help. The camera is at a more flattering angle if a little above you and less flattering if below you.

4 – All the above also applies to being seated in front of the camera.

5 – If you find yourself in a group, say at a party, wedding or family gathering, apply the above tips, focus on the fun of the event, allow a smile to come to your face and resist the urge to chatter. Watch the camera and wait until they have taken the image and put the camera away.

(B) is for black and white – sometimes the success of a shot is in its simplicity and removing the colour can aid this and change the focus. Plus, mixed with the right lighting (covered under ‘L’) it can bring a great ‘mood’ quality to the image, shown below in a small selection of very different examples.

(B) is also for…background – not so obvious, to the point it’s easy to forget them altogether – especially when you are concentrating on your foreground image! Then you end up with objects suddenly appearing in your finished composition that you hadn’t seen at the time of capture! A telegraph pole sticking out the top of someone’s head is never a good look!

So look out for them! A shifting of the camera or your position (often quite small) can save the whole composition of your image. The photo below of the young lady sitting on the beach is a simple example, positioning her in between two upright posts in the background that have strong shadows. If you have a tricky background, observe if it’s possible to use it to your advantage, i.e. frame your image with the background… or move altogether and get another angle.

There are other factors to consider with backgrounds covered further on in the series, so watch out for those 🙂

I’ll try and remember to refer back to comments mentioned under previous letters that may be relevant to another tip 🙂

Well it’s been a long and busy summer, with shoots as varied as I can remember!

I have a bag full of blogs waiting to share with you, but in the meantime have launched a couple of Autumn promotions.

The first is so important to those of us in business and was recently reminded by a clients quote… a strong indication that good profile photographs can draw people to you.

“I get a lot of compliments on the photo’s that you did! I ask all my clients where they found me and a good majority of them reply from my website. They chose me because they like my photo and I look approachable! ” 🙂

I will be arranging the first session dates in the next week if you would like to take advantage of this promotion.

During the first Best of Bury coffee morning in 2012 (10th Jan), I will will set up a small studio area in the Attic at Benson Blakes, St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds, to do head and shoulder shots:

The first one to book a slot for this session today (Monday 19th December), will be absolutely FREE,

thereafter, bookings will be at a SPECIAL OFFER price of £24 including VAT for singles and £30 including VAT for 2 people together – (normally £42 and £48). As normal, you will get to receive 3 from a choice of 6 or 7, which will be emailed to you.

Great for avatars, social networking profiles, newsletters, mailouts or websites – anywhere you promote yourself and your company image.

You do not have to be a member of the Best of Bury to join these fortnightly networking coffee mornings. Come along and meet some great businesses… absolutely free!

Well this was a first – I recently did a shoot for Paula of tasteful nude photographs, using softbox lighting, reflectors and subtle use of a black satin sheet. All the images came out well and this one was her choice to have framed.